Studying distribution of droplets of aqueous phase before and after ultrasonic treatment of stable oil-water emulsions

Abstract

Interest in application of physical processing methods, in particular, ultrasound technologies, has grown significantly in recent years. Ultrasonic technologies minimize the percentage of water in the extracted oil. The main advantages of the ultrasonic treatment over numerous methods of improving the structural and mechanical properties of heavy metals are its low energy consumption, high efficiency, technical and environmental safety. There have been carried out microscopic studies of the influence of ultrasonic treatment on the disperse phase structure and on the stability of emulsions based on light oil from the Yu. Korchagin field with a mass oil content of 40, 60, 80%. The emulsion stability is shown to become less at the increasing water content in the emulsion. Ultrasonic treatment of stable oil emulsions with 60% of oil content from the Yu. Korchagin field had a significant effect on the emulsion. Both positive (acceleration of stratification) and negative effects (strong heating and evaporation of light oil fractions) were observed. The effectiveness of using ultrasound to intensify the separation of emulsions of the specified composition is confirmed by microscopic analysis of optical images of the emulsion structure, because a significant decrease in the size of water droplets in the layer of the dispersion medium is observed in the course of wave processing.